ATM withdrawal limit raised to Rs 2,500 | Bank queues eased a little

NEW DELHI: To ease the pain and frustration of people reeling under a cash crunch after the scrapping of some high value currencies last week, the government on Sunday lifted several restrictions imposed on withdrawing money from automated teller machines (ATMs) and banks and exchange of old notes as it moved.

Bank branches and ATMs in Chandigarh, Amritsar and Ambala experienced long queues with people waiting for hours to get some cash for daily expenses. However, the situation is slowly getting under control as more cash is being pumped in branches and increased use of Debit cards.
Banks have been advised to raise the exchange limit over the counter from 4,000 to 4,500 while the cash withdrawal limit at ATMs will be increased+ from 2,000 to 2,500 per day in the recalibrated cash vending machines, the finance ministry said after it reviewed the situation. The weekly limit of 20,000 for withdrawing from bank accounts has been increased to 24,000 and the limit of 10,000 per day has been removed.
The finance ministry is coordinating with RBI, banks and post offices to make notes of all denominations available at all locations. The government also issued instructions to banks and post offices to ensure proper distribution of all notes of all denominations. “Banks have also been specially advised to ensure availability and distribution of small denomination notes,” a finance ministry statement said.
“Coordination is being continuously done by the ministry of finance with RBI, banks and post offices to make all denomination notes available+ at all locations,” it said. In a major relief to pensioners, the government extended the last date for submitting the annual life certificate to January 15, 2017.
Every year in November, government pensioners are expected to submit a certificate stating that they are alive. Banks were flooded with old 500 and 1,000 notes. About 3 lakh crore worth of such notes have been deposited in the banking system and about 50,000 crore has been dispensed to customers through withdrawal from their accounts or from ATM’s or exchange at the counters. Within three four days, the banking system has handled about 18 crore transactions.